Eanna Ní Leona

Yeah, it was the longest day and the shortest night.

In fact, it was very little complete and utter darkness.

Mind you, it's difficult in Dublin with streetlights.

But still, for it to be around 10 o'clock before sunset and then four o'clock when it's dawn and you have light after sunset and light before dawn.

So the shortest night and the longest day.

It's great.

And then, of course, my mother-in-law always used to say the next day, the days are all getting shorter again and the winter's coming.

Goodness sacred, let no one hear you.

It doesn't get even middling bad until we get the equinox, which is next September.

So we have three months of wonderful light.

They love it indeed.

I mean, so many things are stimulated by light.

The pineal gland in their head is stimulated by the length of light.

And similarly with plants.

Some plants need long days, light and short nights.

They'll flower.

And all these purple flowers that we get at the end of the summer, like we see them in gardens like asters and dahlias and out on the salt marshes where you have sea lavender and sea aster.

Sheets are purple.

They depend on long days and short nights to get them going.

So it really does have a big influence on the world of nature.